Big Zero fades to black

30 December 2009 |permalink | email article

“Even now, it’s hard to get Democrats, President Obama included, to deliver a full-throated critique of the practices that got us into the mess we’re in. And as for the Republicans: now that their policies on tax cuts and deregulation have led us into an economic quagmire, their prescription for recovery is – tax cuts and deregulation. So let’s bid a not at all farewell to the Big Zero – the decade in which we achieved nothing and learned nothing.” – Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist and 2008 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics.

“”The United States will soon have about 100,000 troops chasing shadows in Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda’s presence is now minimal. I understand and appreciate the fear that if the Taliban were to take power again, it could invite al-Qaeda back into Afghanistan to set up shop. But I can’t escape the uneasy feeling that we’re fighting, and escalating, the last war – while the enemy fights the next one.” – Eugene Robinson, Washington Post op-ed columnist and winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

160